Several businesses such as the food or chemical industries have a need to stir or otherwise agitate a variety of materials. For example, the ice cream and beverage industries require that their products be constantly stirred or mixed prior to dispensing or sale. Other industries also require equipment that can be used for agitation of substances, including practical applications involving biomedical substances or harsh chemicals.
However, although agitation of such substances can be accomplished from a variety of types of agitation or stirring equipment, several problems arise through direct contact between the machinery and the materials to be agitated. Due to the nature of working with complex machinery, there is often the need to clean, service, or otherwise physically access the equipment in use. Unfortunately, any direct access to agitation drive machinery that is in direct contact with a product material carries with it the constant risk of contamination of that material.
This problem is illustrated most obviously by the food industry, where contamination of the food product can result in the food product having to be discarded entirely. For example, certain milk dispensing equipment requires the milk mixture to be constantly agitated at a particular temperature prior to serving. All serving equipment therefore must be completely free from contamination, even if accessed during use. Biomedical applications may also require the absolute purity of all substances involved. Contamination may also result from certain components found in the agitation equipment, such as lubricants or fuel.
Conversely, direct contact between the products and agitation components may also pose a risk to the drive components of the machinery. In the harsh chemical industry, the risk of this type of contact is a particular danger. When harsh chemicals come into direct contact with delicate drive components or other sensitive parts of powered machinery, there is a clear risk of damage to that machinery.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a versatile agitation device that can efficiently stir or agitate materials without drive components coming into direct contact with those materials.